Who are All The Astronauts?

All the Astronauts is a band from just outside of Indianapolis. Does that make it Indy music? I don’t know. I know they are some awesome artists doing some great work, making lives better, especially for youth. Yet, about the name, I’m thinking there might be more to it than that. See All The Astronauts

This is a band with some cool concepts in music and compelling imagery. These art pieces are my takeaways from checking out their music and online content. As often happens when I see interesting concepts, I began wondering how it all might work as a sculpture in metal. And here we are.

Iconic Takeaways

What is an Iconic takaway?

It’s meaningful, useful, tangible; Its that thing you are left with at the end of experience to make your own and literally take away with you as your own. Each encounter with life, good or bad, joyful or painful, has something of value, a prize or a scar, a lesson of what to do or what to avoid at all costs, an idea to change the world or perhaps just an impression. That’s the takeaway.

What makes it Iconic?

What does it look like? What image comes to mind when you think of the takeaway? Is there an instant picture of something familiar? Why and how does the image represent the idea? Does it mean the same to other people? How simple can you make this image and it still retain the meaning? If you see a quick glimpse of one corner of the image, is it enough to still immediately trigger the associated meaning?

Two Sides to Everything

I began adding imagery to the flip side, keeping it subtle since the image is secondary to the overall sculpture. Considering what is possible, I have only just scratched the surface.

Exploring Icons as Sculpture

Interpreting 2D imagery into into 3D objects in space offers many possibilities to consider. The balance and interaction between solid mass vs. negative space is an important to my style. I think it is more interesting looking into something than simply looking at it. My intention is to use to the mass to define a space for the mind to inhabit, to draw the eye inside, to create energy in the hollows and an energy between positive and negative, like the rests between the notes in a piece of music.

Sense of presence is driven by the physical mass, weight, and volume. Density of matter matters. Then shape will interact with light and shadow in different locations or time of day. These are variables largely outside of the sculptor’s control which makes it more alive. Lastly, surfaces engage with all these things.

A Real thing must be worth about a thousand pictures

What’s your Icon?